God of Slaughter, or a Comedy-Horror on Żoliborz

"God of Slaughter" by Yasmine Reza is a dark comedy awarded the Tony and Olivier prizes, performed on stages worldwide and adapted by Roman Polanski as "Carnage". In Rafal Pyka's version, the action moves to Warsaw's Żoliborz neighbourhood: two married couples meet to civilly settle a fight between their children in the Żoliborz Gardens. It quickly becomes clear that their "elitism" is merely a costume. The living room turns into a boxing ring, parenthood becomes a battlefield.

The play mines what is funniest about Żoliborz's "elite": well-dressed, well-informed people utterly unprepared for the fact that they are not as exceptional as they believe themselves to be. Thematically: Polish polarization, progressive slogans losing to selfishness, Western spiritualities from Instagram, and parenthood that brings out the worst in people.

The intimate hall of the Nowe Formy Theatre holds only 50 spectators - the closeness of the actors creates the impression of witnessing someone else's very elegantly begun catastrophe.